Overview
- The fire, which broke out on Wednesday, June 10, gutted parts of the nine‑/ten‑storey South 24 Parganas administrative building and destroyed roughly 4,000 control units, ballot units and VVPAT machines used in recent assembly polls.
- Police registered an FIR and Kolkata Police formed a four‑member Special Investigation Team to lead a criminal probe into the cause and sequence of the blaze.
- Forensic teams have visited the site and collected samples but their work has been limited by residual heat and remaining hot spots inside the gutted floors.
- Officials have flagged an odd spread of the fire that appeared to skip intermediate floors and said they are examining sabotage alongside accidental causes while preparing a preliminary report for the Election Commission.
- The destruction raises practical problems for recounts and legal challenges because EVMs serve as physical evidence and election officials say VVPAT paper trails are kept separately, so scrutiny will focus on forensics, CCTV records and storage protocols.